Friday, September 25, 2009

Tehran Calling to the Faraway Towns

By A. Millar

Last week was al-Quds (or ‘Jerusalem’) Day. It sounds as if it could be an ancient religious festival. But it is not. This annual event – usually held on the last Friday of Ramadan – was founded by Ayatolla Khomeini, as a day to oppose the “usurper Israel.” Today it’s also an occasion for hardliners of all stripes, around the world, to celebrate Iran’s clerical regime and its client, the Lebanese-based terrorist militia Hezbollah.

In Tehran, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at an anti-Israel march, and, once again, referred to the Holocaust as a “myth.” “The very existence of this regime [Israel],” he said, “is an insult to the dignity of the people.”

In Germany, the neo-Nazi German People’s Union (DVU) leant its support to the al-Quds Day, and called on its supporters to join in the Berlin march.

In London the annual al-Quds event was held on Sunday September 13, and sponsored by an array of organizations from the Muslim association of Britain to the Respect Party.

The day was marked by Islamists, Leftists (many of whom wore the keffiyeh), and even some extremist anti-Zionist Jews, marching through the streets of Britain’s capital. Hezbollah flags and photographs of the terrorist group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah filled the streets, along with Palestinian flags, and placards with pro-Hamas and anti-Zionist slogans. One or two even proclaimed unashamedly: “We are all Hezbollah Now” [video]. Besides the waving of flags and placards, the also crowd chanted “free, free Palestine,” “boycott Israel,” and even “boycott Starbucks” – the coffee chain that “offended” Islamists with its logo of a mermaid (which they believe is actually the “queen of the Jews”), and which they now believe to be financing “Zionist aggression.” (A Starbucks near the Israeli embassy in London was smashed up by “pro-Palestinian” demonstrators in January.)

Guest speakers for the 2009 London al-Quds event included Dr. Daud Abdullah, Sheikh Bahmanpour, Rabbi Ahron Cohen, Yvonne Ridley, and Anas Al Tikriti. However, this rather multicultural sounding bunch is a whole lot more worrisome than it might first appear.

Dr. Daud Abdullah – who led the Muslim Council of Britain’s boycott of Holocoaust Memorial Day – came under fire a few months ago after he signed a declaration of... Read More